Naguib Mafouz’s ‘Between Heaven and Earth to Grace the Small Screen with TV Series Adaptation

In an annual Ramadan ratings war dominated by flash and histrionics - from the shenanigans of infamous prankster Ramez Galal to soap operas full of superlative dramatics - a weighty and wise series based on the Naguib Mahfouz classic, 'Between Heaven and Earth', hopes to make its mark on the small screen in 2021.

Directed by Mohamed El-Adl and written by Islam Hafez, the series will be adapted from the 1960 comedy film of the same name about a group of people who get stuck in an elevator in Cairo. And, that’s it. That's the whole movie. They're stuck in an elevator for an hour and a half, without any time cuts or scene shifts of any kind, discussing their life stories with each other - an actress going to the roof to film a scene, a suicidal man, a pickpocket, a pair of secret lovers, and other colourful characters whose circumstances are brought the light in the midst of their shared inconvenience. And when such a scenario is penned by Naguib Mahfouz, it’s as insightful as it is hilarious.

We don’t really know how this would translate across multiple episodes - we don’t even know who the stars are yet. But based on El-Adl’s Facebook post, we should expect something big.